Python encode () and decode () functions

👻 Check our latest review to choose the best laptop for Machine Learning engineers and Deep learning tasks!

The encode and decode Python methods are used to encode and decode an input string using a given encoding. Let’s take a closer look at these two functions.

encode the given string

We use the encode () method on the input string that each string object has.

Format :

 input_string.encode (encoding, errors) 

This is the encoding t input_string using encoding , where errors define the behavior to follow if by some chance the string is not encoded.

encode () will result in the sequence bytes .

 inp_string = ’ Hello’ bytes_encoded = inp_string.encode () print (type (bytes_encoded)) 

As expected, the resulting object is & lt; class ’bytes’ & gt; :

 & lt; class ’bytes’ & gt; 

The type of encoding to be followed is indicated by the encoding parameter. There are different types of character encoding schemes, of which Python defaults to UTF-8.

Let’s take an example of encoding .

 a = ’This is a simple sentence.’ print (’ Original string: ’, a) # Decodes to utf-8 by default a_utf = a.encode () print (’ Encoded string : ’, a_utf) 

Output

 Original string: This is a simple sentence. Encoded string: b’This is a simple sentence.’ 

As you can see, we have encoded the input string in UTF-8 format. Although there is not much difference, you may notice that the string is prefixed with b . This means the string is converted to a stream of bytes.

This is actually only presented as the original string for readability, prefixed with b to indicate that it is not a string but a sequence bytes.

Error Handling

There are different types of errors , some of which are listed below:

Let’s look at the above concepts with a simple example. We will consider an input string that does not encode all characters (for example, ö ),

 a = ’This is a bit m√∂re c√∂mplex sentence.’ print (’Original string:’, a) print (’Encoding with errors = ignore:’, a.encode (encoding = ’ascii’, errors =’ ignore’)) print (’Encoding with errors = replace: ’, a.encode (encoding =’ ascii’, errors = ’replace’)) 

Output

 Original string: This is a m√∂re c√∂mplex sentence. Encoding with errors = ignore: b’This is a bit mre cmplex sentence.’ Encoding with errors = replace: b’This is a bit m? Re c? Mplex sentence.’ 

Decoding a byte stream

Similar to encoding a string, we can decode a byte stream into a string object using the decode () function.

Format:

 encoded = input_string.encode () # Using decode () decoded = encoded.decode (decoding, errors) 

Because encode () converts the string to bytes, decode () just does the opposite.

 byte_seq = b’Hello’ decoded_string = byte_seq .decode () print (type (decoded_string)) print (decoded_string) 

Output

 & lt; class ’str’ & gt; Hello 

This indicates that decode () converts bytes to a Python string.

Similar to encode () options, decoding defines the type of encoding from which the byte sequence is decoded. The errors parameter specifies the behavior in case of decoding failure, which has the same values ‚Äã‚Äãas encode () .

Encoding importance

Since the encoding and decoding of the input string is format dependent, we must be careful with these operations. If we use the wrong format, it will lead to incorrect output and may cause errors.

The first decoding is wrong because it tries to decode the input string that is encoded in UTF-8 format. The second is correct because the encoding and decoding formats are the same.

 a = ’This is a bit m√∂re c√∂mplex sentence.’ print (’ Original string: ’ , a) # Encoding in UTF-8 encoded_bytes = a.encode (’utf-8’,’ replace’) # Trying to decode via ASCII, which is incorrect decoded_incorrect = encoded_bytes.decode (’ascii’,’ replace’) decoded_correct = encoded_bytes.decode (’utf-8’,’ replace’) print (’Incorrectly Decoded string:’, decoded_incorrect) print (’Correctly Decoded string:’, decoded_correct) 

Output

 Original string: This is a bit möre cömplex sentence. Incorrectly Decoded string: This is a bit m re c mplex sentence. Correctly Decoded string: This is a bit möre cömplex sentence. 

👻 Read also: what is the best laptop for engineering students?

We hope this article has helped you to resolve the problem. Apart from Python encode () and decode () functions, check other code Python module-related topics.

Want to excel in Python? See our review of the best Python online courses 2023. If you are interested in Data Science, check also how to learn programming in R.

By the way, this material is also available in other languages:

• Italiano Python encode () and decode () functions
• Deutsch Python encode () and decode () functions
• Français Python encode () and decode () functions
• Español Python encode () and decode () functions
• Türk Python encode () and decode () functions
• Русский Python encode () and decode () functions
• Português Python encode () and decode () functions
• Polski Python encode () and decode () functions
• Nederlandse Python encode () and decode () functions
• 中文 Python encode () and decode () functions
• 한국어 Python encode () and decode () functions
• 日本語 Python encode () and decode () functions
• हिन्दी Python encode () and decode () functions